Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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RliV. DR. TALMAGE. if tTHK BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: "The Prodigal Son." I Text: "/iri'ZJ arise and go to my father." Luf.e xt., IS. 1 i There is nothing jike hunger to take the energy cut of a man. A hungry man can toil neither with pen nor hand nor foot. There has been an arrnv defeats i not so much for lack of ammunition as for lack of i bread. It was tbat fact that took the ttra 'rOUt of this young man of the text. Storm and exposure will wear out any man's lile in time, hut hunger makes quick work. The most awful cry ever hsard on earth is the cry for bread. A traveler tell? us that in Asia Minor there are trees which bear fruit looking very much like the long bean of our time. It is icallcd the carab. Once in awhile the people reduced to destitution would eat these carabf, but generally the carab?, the beans spoken of here in the text, were thrown only to the swine and they crunched them with igreat avidity. But this young niau of my text cou'd not get even them without stealing them. So one day amid the swine troughs he begins to soliloquize. He says, ''These are no clothes for a rich man's son to wear; this is no kind of business for a Jew to be engaged in?feeding swine; I'll go home: I'll go home; I will arise and go to my lather." I kuow there are a great many people who try to throw a fascination, a romance, a 'halo about sin; but notwithstanding all that Xord Byron and George Sand have sai:i in regard to it, it is a mean, loir, contemptible business. and putting food and fodder into the troughs of u derd of iniquities that root and wallow in ths soul of man is very poor business lor men and women intende 1 to be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. And when this young man resolve ! to go home it was a very wise thing for him to do, and the only question is whether we will follow him. Satan promises large wages it we win jerve Lim, but he clothes his victims with tags and he pinches them with hunger, and when they start out to do better he sets after them all the bloodhounds of hell. Satan comes to us tc-day, and h p^omis?s ?1I luxuries, all emoluments ii wa will only serve him. Liar, down with thee to tbe pit! "Ihe wages of sin is death," Oh, the young man of the text wa3 wisa when he littered the resolution, "I will arise and go to my lather." In "the time of Queen Mary of England a persecutor came to a Christian woman who bad hxdilen in ner nouse, lortae Lora-s sase, one of Christ's servants, and the persecutor aid, "Where is that heretic?-' The Christian woman said, "?ou open that trunk and you will see the heretic." The persecutor opened the trunk, and on the top of the linen of the trunk he saw a glass. * He said, "There is no heretic here." "Ah!" she said, "you look in the glass and you will seethe heretic?' As I take up the mirror of God's word to-day, I would that instead of seeing the prodigal of the text we might see ourselves?our want, our wandering, our sin, our lost condition?so that we might be as wise as this young man was and say, "I will ftrise and go to ray father." The resolution of this text was foi led in disgust at his present circumstances. If this young man had been by his employer set to calturing flowers, or training vines over an arbor, or keeping accouat o? the pork market. or oTer.-ee.ng other laborers he would sot have thought of going home, it be had had bis pockets full ot money, if he bad been Able lo say: "I have a thousand dollars now Of my own, what's the use of my going bacK to my father's house? Do you think I am going back to apologize to the old man? ;Why, he would put me on the limits; he would nothave going on around theold place guch conduct as I have been engaged in. I .won't go home. There is no reason why I Should go home. I have plenty of money; plenty of pleasant surroundings. Why should Ago home?' Ah! it was his pauperism; it was his beggary. He had to go home. Some man comes and says to me: "Why do you talk about the ruined state of the hu man soul ? W by don't you speak about the progress of the .Nineteenth century, and talk of something more exhilarating ? It is for this reason ?a man never wants the Gospel rmt-il h? renliips h? is in a famine struck state. Suppose I should come to you iu your home and you are in good robust health, and 1 should begin to talk about medicines, and about bow much better this medicine is than that, and some other medicine than some other medicine, and talk about this physician and that physician. After awhile you wouid get tired, and you would say3, "I don't want to hear about medicines. Why do ycu talk to me of physicians? I never have a doctor." Suppose i come into your house and find you severely sick, and I know the medicmas that will cure you, and I kno.v the physician who is skilful enough to meet your case. You say: "Bring on all that medicine; briug on tnat physician. I am terribly sick and I want help." If I came to you and you feel you are ail right in body and all right in mind and all right in soui you have need of nothing, but supposing I have persuaded yvf em io imnn Trnn f Via JVJU iuay iuo ixypisjoj VJ. D?U *O U^/VU JVUJ worst of all sickness, oh, then you say, "Brine me that balm of tbe Gospel; bring me that divine medicament; bring me Jesus Christ But says some one iu the audience, "How ; do you prove that we are in a ruined con dition by sin?' Well, I can prove it in two ' ways, and you may have your choice. I can i>rove it either bv the statements oi men or by th9 statement of God. Which shall it be? You all sav, "Let us have the statement of God." Well, He JSOV3 1U UUC p.ttLT, J.UU UCEXl b IS UtfUJILlUl above all things and desoeratelv wicked." He says in another place, "What is man that he Bhonld be clean? and h<3 which is born of a woman, that he should be rights ousf He says in another place, "There is none that doetb good; no, not one." He says in another place, "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death pissed upon ail men, for that all have sinn<ni." "Well," you say, "I am 'Tilling to acknowledge that, but why should I take the particular rescue that you propose?" This is the reason, "E scant a n an be born again h*? cannot see the kingdom of God." This is the r2ason, "There is one lame given under heaven among men whereby they may be saved." Then there are a thousand voices here ready to say, "Well, I am ready to accept this help of the Gocpe!; I would like to have this divine cure; how shall I go to work?" Let me say that a mere whim, an uniefined longing amounts to nothing. You must have a stout, tremendous resolution like this y oung mail of the text when he said. "I will arise and go to my father." "Oh!" says some man, "how do I know my father wants me? How do I know, if I go back, I would be received?" 'K)h!" says tome man, "you don't know where I have been; you don't know how lar 1 have wandered; you wouldn't talk that way to ma if jou knew all the iniquities I bare committed." What is that flatter among the angels of God? It is news, it Is news 1 Christ Has found the lost. Hot rnga'.s cac tbetr joy contain, Bat kin died with new fire: Th? linr.pr .rut fa fnnnH thnv ainrr And ?tri?c tnc oundinz Wre. I remark still further that this resolution of the text was founded in a feeling of homesickness. I do not know how long this young man, how many months, how many ears, ho had been away from his father's house; but there is something about tae reading of my text that makes me thiuk he was homesick. Some of you know what that fef>?ing is. Far away irorn home sometimes surrounded by everything bright and pleasant?plenty of friends?you have said, "I would give the world to bd home tonight." Well, tbis young man was homesick for his father's house. I have no doubt when he thought of his lather's house he said, "Now perhaps father may not be living." Wo roofi nnfhincr in this storv?this nar able founded on every day life?we real nothing about tbe moth?r. It says nothing about going home to her. I think she was dead. I think she had died of a broken heart at his wanderings, or perhaps he had gone into dissipation from the fact he could not remember a loving and sympathetic mother. A man never gets over having lost hia mother. Nothing said about her here, but he is homesick for his father's house. He thought he would just like to go and walk around the old place. He thought hi* would just like to go aui see if things were as they used to Oe. Many a man, after having been of!' for a long while, has gone home and knocked at the door and a stranger has corns. It is the old homestead, but a stranger com93 to the door. He finds out father is ?on9. mother is gone and brothers and sistsrs all gone. I think this young man of t:ie tJxt said to himself, "Pernaps father may be dead." CJtill he scartsto find out. He is homesick. Are there any here to-day homesick for God, homesick for heaven? j I will tell you of two prodigals, the one j that got back and the other that did not get [ back. In Richmond there is a very prosperI ous and beautiful home in many respects. 1 A young man vanderei off from taa? no ne. He wandered very far into sin. They heard of him often, but he was always otf the wrong track. He would not go home. At j the door of that beautiiui no me one mgnc there was a great outcry. The young man of the house ran down and opened the door to see what was tho matter. It was midnight. The rest of the family wore asleep. There wero che wife and children of this pro.iigal youn? man. The fact was he had come noma and driven them out. He said: "Out of this house. Away with these children. I will dash their brains out. Out into the storms!" The mother gathered them up and fled. The next morning the brother, a young man who had staid at home, v.-ent out to find this prodigal brother and son, and he came where he was and saw the young man wandering up and down in front of the place where he had bsen staying, and the young man who had kept his integrity said to the older brother: "'Here, ^ rtflf f maon9 \\T hot la f.Ka mo tfor with you? Why do you act in this way?" The frodigal looked at him and said: "Who am ? Whom do you take rile to be?" He said: "You are my brother." "No, I am not. I am a brute. Have you seen anything of mv wife and children? Are they dead? i drove them out last night in the storm. lama brute, John, do you thiak there is any help for me? Do you think I will ever get over this life of dissipation?" He said, "John, there is just one thing that will stop this " The prodigal ran his finger across his throat and said: "That will stop it, and I'll stop it before nizht. Oh, my brain; I can stand it no longer!" That prodigal never got home. But 1 will tell you of a prodigal that did get home. In this country two young men started from their fattier s house and went down to Portsmouth. The father could not pursue his children; for some reason he could not leave home, and sn be wrotd a letter down to Mr Griffin, saving: "Mr. Griffin, I wish you would go and see my two sons. They have arrived in Portsmouth, and they are going to take ship an i soing away from home. I wish you would persuaie them back." Mr. Griffin went and he tried to persuade taem back. He persuaded one to go. He went with very easy persuasion, because h9 was very haraftsio-i alrea'dy. The other young man said; "I will not go. I have had enough of home. I'll never go home." "Well," said Mr. Griffin, "then if you won't go home I'll get you a resDeecaoie position on a respectaoie .chip." "No, vou won't," said the prodiga!; "no. you won't. I am goin? as a common sailor; that will plague my father most, and what will do most to tantalize and worry him will please me best." Years passed on and Mr. Griffin was seated in his study one day when a messazs came to him saying there was a ypun; man in irons on a ship at the dock?a voung man condemned to death?who wi9heai to see this clergyman, Mr. Griffin went down to the dock and went on shin board. The young man said to bim, "You don't know me, do you?" "No," he said, "I don't know you." "Why, don't you remember that young man you tried to persuade to go home and he wouldn't zof' "Ob. veV said Mr. Griffin: I "are you that man*" ''Yes, I am that man," said the other. "I would like to have you ?rav for me. I have committed murder and must die, but I don't want to go out of this world until some one prays for me. You are my father's friend and I would like to have you pray for mo." Mr. Griffin went from judicial authority to judicial authority to get that young man's pardon. He slept not night nor day. He went from influential persons to influ ential persons until in some way he got that young man's pardon. He came down on tbe dock, and as he arrived on the doc^ with the pardon tbe father came. He had heard that his son under a disguised name bad been committing crime and was going to be put to death. So Mr. Griffin and the father went on ship's deck, and at the very moment Mr. Griffin offered the pardon to the yonng man the old father threw his arms around the son's neck and the son said: 'Father, I have done very wrong and I am very sorry. I wish I had never broken your heart. I am very sorry." 'Oh," said the father, "don't mention it. It don't make any difference now. It is all over. I forgive you, my son," and he kissed him and he kissed him and he kissed him. To-day I offer you the pardon of the Gospel?full pardon, free pardon. I do not care what your crime has been. Though you say you have committed a crime against God, against your own soul, against your fellow man, against your family, against the day of judgment, against the cross of Christ?whatever your crime has been, here is pardon, full pardon, and the very moment yoa take that pardon your heavenly Father throws his arms about you and says: "My son, I forgivo you. It is all right. You are as much in My favor now as if you had never sinned." Oh, there is joy on earth and Joy in heaven t Whc will take the Father's embrace? Color in the Hmaan Voice. A nAna 1 nnforfoinm/mf TfffVQ hpM ftfc fVlft U UVTVt VUWlkUIUlUVMX "W.- M. Drexel Instftuto, Philadelphia, a few eveniugs since for the benefit of the children's fresh air fund. Professor D. 3. Holman delivered a lecture on "Some Effects of Light and Sound Waves," iernonstrating with the aid of an instrument known &i the phonaHoscope the lights and shadows of musical sounds, issisted by toe vocal talent ot Miss M. Virginia fees, miss uaarioue luiwson, Miss Kate Sheain, A. H. Darby aad Oharles Graife. Professor Holmaa prefaced his lecture with the statement ;hat color exists alone ia the eye of the jeer. After a few experiment# in changing the colors of objects under a powerful light composed of carbonate of soda, Professor Holmaa started ia to prove, with the aid of the phoaeidoscope, that the sound waves produced by tue v.iice possess motioa aad color. When this announcement was made the audience held its breath in exp?ctatioa. A sheet similar to that use 1 in stereopticou entertainments was stretched across the sti^e, and whit Professor Holman termed the mirror, upoa which the ellects of the voice were pictured, was adjusted in the instrument and magnified upon the sheet. In color it was a dull, leaden gray, showing in bold rolief upon the wnite canvas. Then four of the voicei struct up a quartet, while iliss Sheain place! her pretty lip> to a mouth piece and sang throu^u what I looked very rauca use a spea.viaj tuba. The other end of the tube was coanected with the phoneidoscope, and her voice, comm.; in c mtact with the mirrors, was transmitted to tho canvas, forming into the most delicate shape* imaginable, as the same time taking all the variegated tints of the rainbow. A* her voice rose or saak in volume the waves rippled across the surface of the mirror in the m?3t astonishing niaaner, while the au-iience applauded to the echo. Tais wa3 repeated several times. After the lecture Professor tioiman explained to u Kecord reporter the apparent miracle by saying that the socalled mirror was merely a filoi composed of soap suds. T.ie voice, coming in contact with this surface, causel it to vibrate, while ^he variegated colors were formed by the decomposition of the soap film. Queen Victoria wants but a year of equaling her grandfather's record of the longest reign of an English monarch. Perhaps Canada will help her to another parallel by making her reign the epoch of another great colonial independent rising. The total Are losses In this country and Canada for the first half of the year 1892 foot up $65,000,000. Fire !s more costly than strikes. : ; temperance! ALCOHOL A NARCOTIC, i Alcohol is not a stimulant; it is a narcotic, I a soother of irritable nerve?, or it may act as an irritant to cerebral nerve cells. By I giving alcohol wo put out the danger signal I which nature is showing us: we lull our patients and their friends into a dangerous ! lethargy, and give them hopes that the pa? i *-- ? wVtilef in r*?A.ifcv thft : ueat is ret'uvci iu^, ??u?.oi, > - ?, ? | disease is rapidJy advancing.? Alfred Carpenter, M. D. DRUNKENNESS AMONG LONDON WOMEN. There is a marked increase in drunkenness among women in England. Dr. Norman Kerr, President of the Society for the Study [ of Inebriety, declares that never within hi.? recollection had he seen so many drunken women about the streets of London as during the Whitsuntide holidays. He had frequently seen groups of four or Ave, som? auite young, all iu a more or less intoxicated condition. One of the coroners of London asserts that he has held of late an increa? ingly large number of inquests upon women, many comparatively young, whose death was clearly due to ajconolic excess. A medical committee is now sitting in London to devise more effectual means of dealing witb drunkards than treating tbem as criminals, Sending them repeatedly to prison has nc reformatory effect. A case is cited of s woman who recently died in Marylebon? Workhouse at tbe age of forty-eignt wh< had been convicted of drunkenness 200 times It is proposed to put chronic cases undei compulsory detention and to treat drunkennessas a disease rather than a vice. Special provision will 00 maae ror inose wao are notable to pay for treatment aad maintenance . ?Chicago Times. BREWERS AT THE FAIR. The brewers of the United States claim the right to have their business represented at the Columbian Exposition, and intend to set lorth "the development ot the American brewing industry; the status ot brewing by States; the extent to wbica American agriculture is benefited by brewing; the effects ot the increasing consumption ot beer upou the health and morais ot' communities," etc. In fact they propose to open at .the i air a exeat school for the education of the American people in regard to temperance, good morals and material prosperity as affected by the manufacture aud consumption of beer in this country. We only wish they would set forth all the fucts in their true" light. Then the W. C. T. U. might with advantage give them a room in their building, stipulating, of course, that there should be no original packages opened there! One other condition would be eminently fitting for the women to exact, viz., the pririlege of seating upon a few of tne beer kegs as object lessons some samples of the finished work actually turned out by the brewerssome of the men, women and children upon whom this "brewing industry" has had its full effect financially, physicially and morally.?Minneapolis Congregationalism THE DRUNKARD'S CHILDREN. And parent?, have you through drink lost lore for your offspring;, for the children with which God has blessed your marriage union? Yes, your children weep over loved hopes, but their tears are unheeded; they pray, they beseech, they implore, they strive to stay the downward curse, but they are cast aside, their tears defiled, youth's happines3 turned into gall, hope's faded flowers strew theiryounglife's way; they must go out and bear the cold world's scorn, their sole relief the tear of "a drunkard's child;" or, worse than that, become stolidly indifferent to every good impulse, and continue the vices of the parent; and become a burjen and disgrace to themselves and to society. And, finally, I dare not tell you that drunkenness, the demon of drink-, can make the son lift up bis hand and deal the blow upon the aged mother who brought him forth ..... 1 amid the travails or Dirtn; woo nursou mm at her breast and tended him ia childhood, and cheered him on against the trials of youth Oh, I dare not describe to you that gray-haired mother sinking down to the floor beneath the blovr dealt by a son rendered unnatural by drink. Drunkenness renders the heart dead to every holy feeling^ it destroys within us our reason, our freedom, our love. It destroys within us the image of God in our glorious manhood. It destroys the welfare and the happiness of the family, and step by step, it leads from one sin to the other, tor when reason is gone the passions cannot be kept under control, and they become a tax aud a pauper in the natural and in the supernatural order, Drunkenness leads to an untimely grave, and in death the drunkard meets with tne ? u:~ ?"Raw H f'fllrrtAr. CULUDi. Ul 1U3 nuco. " THE EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE. From the excellent address delivered recently by R*v. Ferdinand Kittle, of Loretco, Penn., we clip the following extract: "The general physical effects of alcohol on the individual may be briefly summarized thus: The general tendency of alcohol on nerve matter is to paralyza it, so that all mental action becomes disordered. Hence all the variety of hallucinations and aberra tions, moods and erratic impulse?, wmcu lead to crimes of all kinds, without a comprehensible bases. The digestive apparatus oecomes impaired, the digestive organs gradually deteriorated, the circulatory system more lax, calorification lowered, t^e blood poisoned, and exertion clogged. It is the eagerness of alcohol for saturation, and its consequent exhaustion of much of the normal vater supply in the body which makes the alcohol drinker so thirsty, and it is his resort, not to water, but to alcoholic liquor, fVia tViirof {f.nrrtrnL'oa tchl'^h IoaHq to the drink crave. Bat it is observed that these c-ffects of general physical defeneration do not, as a rule, manifest themselves in any great degree until after the higher functions of the brain and spirit have been severely impaired. "The effects upon society and State follow almost like corollaries to the problem to the effects of alcohol upon the individual; for as alcohol ditns and impairs, in the first place, thos? functions of love, modesty, tenderness, and loyalty which form the basis of all true family life, and as the family is the basis of society and State, we find that the oiuuuuiiu uauib iu caujr iviut 10 ouw ?ti jhu v-?*. the foundations of society and State. But the most appalling factor in the entire drink problem is that of alcoholic heredity; it is proven that alcoholic degeneration descends through the second and third, yes, the fourth generations. And thus we lind that by means of this poison the spiritual and mental growth of the race is almost stopped, while the physical powers are stunted and weakened and impaired; and hence as the years roll on we get moral and spiritual inertia in increasing ration; moro and mora of mental impotence and insanity, more and more of wiJl-ie6s creatures ready to fall victims to all hinds of temptation and allurements, thus furnishing a steadily growing dass of criminals and defectives. Such tendencies of body and mind every person who drinks may, and in many cages does, bequeath to his helpless progeny." TEMPERANCE NEW3 AND NOTES. There are 12,400 saloons in -Sew York and Brooklyn. England spends ninety-Dine times more money for intoxicants than for education. The moderate drinker is simply a mod* erate drunkard. Think it over and see if he isn't. If the corn crop proves short, stop making so much of it into whisky, and there will be enough and to spare. One saloon in a town is all tue devil ever asks for to begin with. Give him thit and be won't worry about not being able to destroy boys enough. Lady HeDry Somerset will visit India era long, as a delegate of the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union, and will preach total abstineuce to natives and foreign residents ia that part of the world Sir Wilfred Lawson, in recalling the hard names that have been and still are hurled at temperance reformers, reminds them, in his usual happy style, that "fanatics are earn* man iii n minnritr. niri a fftd.list is onj who knows something more than the rest oil people." Germany is not eivin? up tha beer drinking habit. The President of the German Brewers' Exhibition in Hamburg announced that last year Germany drank 5"2,3iM,00J hectolitres of beer, an increase of 7.WW.450 beetolitres over the consumption of the preI vious year?that i?, fifteen per cent, increase. SAUJiAl'll SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL! LESSON FOR SEPi'iiMBEU 11. Lesson Text: ''Philip and the Etht...j? n ..in on m Uj.JiU.li, n \ vy Golden Text: John lit, 30?Commentary. 2(5. "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." What an honor to have a special heaveDly messenger bring one a message right from God. Compare Math, i., 20; ii., 13,19; Luke i., 11,19, 28; Acts xii., 7; xxvii., 23. When we read the Bible we must accept it as a message to our souls as real as if an angel or God Himself spoke to us. 27. "And he arose and went?and behold a man of Ethopia." From preaching to many he had come to speak to one person. Think of Jesus speaking to Nicoderaus, and to the woman of Samaria, and count it not n email mof.tor ho cant. AQ thfi mAO senger to one soul. Obedience and faithfulness is our part; God will see the results (Isa. i., 19). 28. "Was returning, and sitting in his chariot, read Esaias the prophet." He came from Egypt to Jerusalem to worship the true God, and on his journey home was reading the book of God. He was an earnest seeker after light ana truth and God observed him, for His eyes ran to and fro throughout the whole earth to find just such people (II Chron. xvi., 9). Compare Acts x., 30, 31. Remember that God waits to reveal Himself to all who seek Him with the whole heart (Jer. xxix., 13). '29. "Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself unto this chariot." As to the Spirit speaking to the apostles and others, see Acts x., 19; xi., 12: xii., 2; xvi., 6-7. and consider tbe promises of Jesus in ? - ?rtn cut ; 10 T* : donn xiv., ~6o\ xv.j ~u; ivi., ?o, xv is ^uosible for us even now to hear the voice of the Spirit and be guided by Him. 30. "And Philip ran thither to him. and heard him read the prophet Esaias and said, Understaudest thou what thou readest?" See what paiDS God will take to causa one to underitand His word when He sees that desire in our hearts. Consider how Jesus opened the Scriptures to the two men with whom He walked, and how afterward in the midst of the eleven "He opened their understanding that they mi^ht understand the Scriptures" (Luke xxiv., 32, 45). 31. '"And he said, how cau I expect some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.'' The ennuch was a greater man riding in his chariot; Philip probably had the appearance of a way worn traveler; yet see his cordial reception. Many messages are unspoken and letters unwritten that, the spirit has whispered because we have feared rebuke. We must obey and not be afraid (Mark v., 36). 32. "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamp dumb before his shearer, so opened. He not His mouth." This was the Scripture which he read (Isa. liii, 7;, and refers to the suffering of Jesus wuen led bound to the high priest and to Pilate and to be crucified. There are similar words in Jer. xi., 19, for Jeremiah was a type 01 josua, and suffered all but death for His sake. There is a time to be silent evea when suffering (Ps. xxxviii., 18, 14). Iw. "In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; and who shall declare His generation? His life is taken from the earth." There was no justice done to Him, the J ews could prove nothing against Him, for none of the witnesses agreed; and Pilate, though testifying three times tnat he fouud no fault in Him, yet scourged Him and delivered Him to be crucified. 84 '! r>rav thee, of whom sosaketh the prophet this?of himself, or some other man*" This was the eunuch's question to Philip, and one very much to the point. In reading II bam. vii., 12, 13; Fa. viii., 4; xvi., 10, 11; xxii., 8, 18; Isa. ir.. 7, and hosts of other passages, dots the question ever arise in your mind, "Of whom spealceth the prophet this?' Do you care to un-. derstand Scripture, or do you read it as a* religious duty? 36. "Then Philip opened his month and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." Philip did not waste time on the style of the prophet, nor on the possibility of another Isaiah being the author of this Scripture, neither did he drop a hint that a prophet could not see 700 years into Al- - U..4- aiiH Afhoi* Knfin-. lot) luiuif, UUb 11UU1 l,UU ouu v.u? Jtures he made plain the truth concerning Jesus. That is what the Scriptures are for and that is the preacher's business (Luke xxiv., 27, 44; John v., 39, 4tt). 36. "See, here is water; wuat doth hinder me to be baptized?" Thus spake the eunuch to Philip as they went on their way. The entrance of the word of God had enlight?ue i him (Ps. cxix., 130), and having received Jesus as revealed in the Scriptures, he was reaay to confess it in baptism. He was probably attended by many servants, and in their presence he was ready to confess that he had received Jesus of*Nazareth as his Saviour. 37. "And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Sou of God." Compare tue confes HfofK -rirl 1fl siods oi rei*r aiiu juuiuu m muvu. ... John xi., 27, and observe the root of such confession in I Cor. xii., 13; John iv., 15. Remember also that to believe is to receive, and that "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the inouth conlession is made unto salvation" (John 12; Rom. x., 10) 38. "And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into ths water, both Philip and the eunucb, and he baptized him." Thus the eunuca fully obeyed (Mark xvi., 16), and Philip obeyed (Math, xxviii., 19), aud there was joy in i heaven over a sinner repenting (Luke it., 7,10). From beginning to end it was the work of the Spirit o? God, but the Spirit is graciously pleased to work through human instrumentality. He will use any one who is fully yielded to Him. 39. "And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more; and ne went on his way rejoicing." The messenger had delivered his message, had done his work and was gone. No thank?, no reward, no praises from man, but thfc approval of God, and suddenly and supernaturally transferred to other opporfnr lnhnr Snmft riav as stiddanlv we may be caught to meet Jesus in the air. How glorious if we shall be found abiding in Him (I John ii., 28). 40. "But Philip was found at Azotus; and passing through he preached in all the citie?, till he came to Cajsarea." There we find him years afterward, with his fonr daughters who did prophecy, entertaining Paul and his companions many days (Acts xxi., 8-10). If the eunuch saw him no more on earth, he * has met him long since in the glory. Will souls you have saved meet you there??Leeson Helper. A MISTAKEN" IDEA. There is a general impression that ITotaamTnA,ian<i are verv abste^iioui in the use of intoxicating liquors. A. communication in the Independent from P*ev. VV F. Englisn, of Sivas Turkey, dispels this rataer pleasins Husion. It appears that in Constantinople the follower of the prophet often makes a spectacle of himself. He drinks by . night, in seclusion and inordinately. Cases o? delirium tremens are frequent. He regards wine as an infidel beverage, and choose a much stronger drimc. Many officers of the Government are habitual druntc unfthrnH tn nprform their duties. According to this account, the aco.ling remark not unt'requently made about thete.nperate \3ofcammeiian and the drunken Christian is deprived ot any bas:s of iiict ? though the drunkenness ot the Mohaaiaiedau is none the less to be deplored. There seems to be a popular Impression that a man who wanta money has only to threaten a bank cashier with a pistol. It is remarkable that the fallacy should exist so long, as its results have so far been far more annoying to the would-b* desperadoes than to the cashiers or the deDOsitors. HIRAM JJALY?i*irs. Vxruab lmpiu wj all her servants. Biddies Kip? Doesn't that infringe the law? Hiram Daly?I don't know. Sho probably thinks they should come in free, as raw materials.?Puck v -if '\;:r RELIGIOUS READING. THE Cl'P OF PLKASCRE. Peter nnd Christ one morn did go From Salem unto Jericho; A.nd when his eager feet lie sat On the road to Olivet, Down which troubled brooks did glide, Peter a rusty horseshoe spied. "Pick up," the Master. No reply. Peter passed and let it lie. The wiser Saviour, stooping there, mm me morning 111 m* nair, Picked it up, like a cup of pleasure, And exchanged it for a measure Of cherries, black and white and red, Like the thorns that were to crown his bead, And in the bosom folds of his robe That girdled the rolling, whirling globe. Put them, as up the hills they went, Wherever the sun his arrows sent, As ou the cruel and the just. Blazing on stones, and rocks, and dust; When Peter with a laggard mind. Sauntering slowly, dropped behind, So great his thirsVwas. Seeing all, The Teacher a cherry then let fall, And soon another, ripe a? the sun; Peter stooped and ate tbem every one. To whom our gracious, glorious King, Greater than David. King of king*: "Who stoops not for ;; litUe thing, 3I1U11 oeuu IJ IS UllUii. iur ItWCi tum^. ? [Richard Henry Stoddard, :n the Independent. A PLACE FOR EVERY ONE. "What our churehcs need most?next to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, ifl the development of all the members. So much Is thrown upon the ministry that some of us can hardly catch a spare hour for our own family and fireside. A city pastor is often expected to prepare three sermons or l?cturea, to visit tbe flock, to see the sick, to bury the dead, to act on a dozer, committees and to make two or three speeches, ail in a aihrtlo Tronlr' TVio nonnmpQ Dnrinr T 's church, or Sir. B 's church, or Doctor C 's church, or some other man's church, instead of being the people'9 church, with some gifted man "as its overseer and pastor. Now, I iove to work, exceedingly, but not one wbit more than I love to sec my congregation work. And no man in my flock has apy more right to turn bis spiritual work oyer upon me than he has a right to send me to market for him or cook or eat bis dinfier for him. He needs bis work as much as I need mine. In revival times the whole church is alive and busy. But where and when did the Master ever give a ''furlough" to three-fourths of our people to quit the ranks just as soon as a revival campaign is over? A Christian who is keen for work will soon find hi< place. If he is "apt to teach," tie or fine wm soon gainer me aaooain scnooi class, and will be there, Bible in band, every Sunday, even though the rain is pattering on the pavements. Commend me to the teacher who wears a waterproof," and always consults conscience sooner than a barometer. Whoever has the gift of gong should join God's great choir, and sing at every religious service. The owuer of a good voice must give account for that voice at the day of judgmont. TV'e never shall have genuine congregational singing until every redeemed child of Christ sings from dntv and consecrates the gift of music to the lord. Those who expect to sing in heaven would better practice here. Tract distribution is going too much out of fashion. It is a blessed and heaven-honored agency for doing good. Every one who has seine spare time ana a tongue snu a little pious tact caa go out with a bundle [ of tracts to the abodes of ignorance and irreltgion. | Those wbo cannot exhort, or teach in a Suuday-school. or distribute tracts, can at least live for Jesus at borne and come and join in the prayers of the prayer-meeting. The oldest, the timidest, the least gifted, can surely do as much as this. Every one, too, c*n give something when the contribution box is passed. The gift of a "cup of cold water" iu Christ's name has its reward. Every one whom Jesus saves has a place assigned to bim in the vineyard. An idle Christian is a monster. Friend, have you found the place??[Dr. T. L. Cuyier, in "Isewly Enlisted." GOOD SEED TO SOW. "The seed is tlic word of God." It is cood seed to sow in your family. And he is a wise man who daily gathers bis loved ones about the hoiue a'tar and sows this precious seed in his family. It will bring untold b^essinsis, both spiritual and temporal, to himself and his dear ones. The harvest will be rii-li. It is good seed to sow in your community. And it is u happy community where this word of God j"h faithfully studied and preached and taught. Life is safe in that Minimunitv. property is more valuable, bu-iin?s more profitable, schools better, children tuore intelligent, and homes and hearts happier in that community. The harvest Is very rich. It costs less and pays better than constables, police officers, and jails, ami the fruit is infinitely better. It is good seed to sow in the nation. And "happy is the nation whose God is the Lonl," where Goil's wonl is believed and taught and lived. It is the only sure cure for anarchy and socialism, communism and crime; better than standing armies; better than musketry and powder: better than courts ami prisons, is the harvest that conies from sowing ihW seed. It is making the tree in rniup to have the fruit eood. It is cleansing the fountain to make the stream pure. It is the ounce of preventive worth the pounds of cure. It is that wisest of strategy by pre-occupation ? possessing the ground with good, arid so keeping out the evil. The harvest is rich and abundant. This seed has life in itself. You only need to scatter it and it will grow. "There shall be an handful of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon." This is the seed which, if sown, "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert rcjoiee and blossom a? the rose." Its blossom is beautiful, like the lily of the valley or the rose of Sharon; its fruit is satisfying I i:i.nm,n.nn tV..?> ltuivr>i< or the "hrpadof life." The harvest is not only rich. 1?ut sure. Do you want good, reliable seed to sow* Then licre it is?the word of God. "The word of the Lord is tried,'* and stands the test of botii reason and experiment. If you have reliable, well-tested feed, then that seed is this "word of God/'. For seed and sowing, flowering and fruitage, in it none have ever been disappointed uor ever shall be.?fPresbyterian banner. it makks all wrong. "Please, father, is it wrong to go pleasuring on the Lord'* day? 3Iv teacher says it i>." "Why, child, perhaps it is not exactly ri>ht."' "Then it is wronsr, isn't it father?" ' Oh. I don't know that?if it is once in a while.'' Father, you know how fond I am or sums!" ' Yes, John. I am gl?d you are; I want you to do tbem well, and be quick and clover | at figures. But why do you talk of sums just now?'' Became, father, if there is one little | figure put wrong in the sum it makes all wrong, however large the amount is." ' To be sure, child, it does." "Then, please, father, don't you think that ii God's day is put wroug now and then it makes all wronja?"' "Put wronsr, child?how?" "1 mean, father, put to a wrong uae." "Tliut brings ic very close, said tue tamer, as if speaking tu himself, ami then added, "Johu. it ix wrone to break God's holy Sabbath. He hns f rbklden it, ami your teacbet whs quite right." "Keiuein er ihe Sabbath day to keep it holy."?fK'rri WnAT has become of that parasite which killed the pestiferous house fly? A ?ood deal was said about him at odd times last winter, when the flies I had retired to that mysterious bourne whither they seek seclusion in cold weather. A parasite that declines to get in Its work when needed is a good deal of a nuisance itself Cabby, what's the shortest way to get to Oxford street?" l\ie cabman, pointing to his vehicle, "'.There it is, sir.Tid- Bits. SOME BEAR KILLINGS j A CHOICE SPIRIT OF BBTJIN HOLLOW TELLS OF TEBBIFIC FIOHTS. D-rath at the End of an Augrsr. Fiaticuffi in Which a Bitr Beast was Drowned in ^ ^ tt?i 4-V? q f flnddfinlv .ells uwn uort). iitiut ~? Vanished. N the -whole length and breadth of the lumber regions of Northern Pennsylvania, so they told \ there is no jpffcf place which has ^ had such a repu ttation for intereJ pid and unrelentC ing bear hunters f as Bruin Hollow. Happenning re- | cently to be within 15 miles of that famous bear-huutF]*De center, I drove J,i; to the hollow to ^ea9t my eye3 0,1 ,Vn/* .U ^ enmo of til ft Still ?5^wprt sons of the forest whose recreation it was to v make bruin hump himself and howl, and to give my ears the delectable duty of listening to them as they told their tales of valor and daring in chase and battle. After getting tolerably well acquainted with the landlord of the dingy little tavern at the Hollow I said to him: "This is a famous spot for bear killing and bear killers, isn't it?" The landlord, a bewhiskered little old man in hickory overalls and shirt, and with a merry twinkle in his gray eye, threw up bis bands and said : WANTED TO HEAR A BEAR KILLED. "B'ars! Why up to two weeks ago the b'ars that had been killed an' was bein' killed around here would a druv you wili. I've heerd more b'ar killed an' fit with fer the past five year than you could heap in a ten-acrc lot. I'd on miinT lrillpd that T cot a han kerin' so to see one inummixed around and rasseled an' choked to death by some o' the b'ar killers that I couldn't hardly hold myself. "Wull, one night a couple o' weeks ago, Si Ainsley an' Joe Barns an' Pete Fletcher an' Josh Mullin an' Josh Mullin's dog Tiger was settin' here killin' an clutchin' an' chokin' b'ar till it looked terrible skeery the way the b'ar howled an' the blood run. All o' them fellers is great b'ar killers, an' so is the dog. Si Ainsley he toM how he met a big b'ar wunst up along the headwaters, an' had nothin' with him but a raftin' auger. The b'ar see Si and know'd him, an' tried his best to git away. But Si scooted around an1 him off. an' keo' headin' him off till be run the b'ar up against a big oak tree, with a ledge o' rocks on both sides of it, an' the unfort'nit bruin had to stop an' taks his medicine. P' ^y ? ' THIS WAS A HORRIBLE KILLING. "He backad up ag'in the tree and riz up on his ha'nches. That was jist what Si wanted, an' he sa'ntered up and put the p'int of his auger ag'in the b'ar's chist. The auger was five foot long, an' ez the b'ar sparred an' spatted at Si, tryin' to git a clip in ag'in his head, Si jist quietly went to borin' +Vio h'nr'a rhist. The au??er worked so smooth that ol' bruin didn't know what was goin' on. an' when he did wake up to the situation it wa'n't no use. Si had bored clean through the b'ar an' a foot inter the tree, an' thar the b'ar was, pinned to the tree ez snug ez a shootin' ma<ch bill to a barn door. Ho cuddn'c git away, an' Si went over to Bill's camp an' got a gun an' ca>ae back an' stopped the b'ar's howlin' by puttin' a few sluiis inter his brain. Darned if it didn't make me shedder all over to hear Si kill that b'ar! "Wull, Pete Fletcher he killed a h'nr tliftt nitrlit. too. His'n tVU|?iV w ^ . ? o ? was slaughtered up on Injun Knob, jist beyent here a piece. Pete he wae out lookin' fer b'ar. an' had his gun with him to use in case he got in close quarter*. He had got on the p'int o' the knob when two slambastln' b'ars jumped out o' the brush not more than two rod ahead of him. Pete wa9 after b'ar skins more than b'ar meat an' teem' that these two had coats on worth suupin' like $40 pervidin' they wa'n't all riddlfd with bullets an' cut an' slashed with knives, he decided to gether the two bruins in with hull pelts by strategy. "Pete said the b'ars must a be'n strangers in these parts, fer they didn't seem to re:o'nize him, an' stid o' tryin' to _:< I away, they squared off fer light. Pete laid down his gun, an' took his knife out of his belt and laid that down, fer fear he mowt fergit hisself an' use it on the b'ars an' danuge their skin. One b'ar was bigger'n ' * --L - JJ t'other un, an' tne mggesi un steppeu out to try what there was in Pete. The b'ar riz up on its hinders, nn' Pete he trotted straight fcr him, actm' ex if he was gointer ketch him i>y the neck. That fooled the u'ar, an' lie waited fer Pete to pitch in an' grab him. "But Pete know'd a trick worth two o' that, an'jist ez he got within reach o' the b'ar he give a suddent duck with his lie id an' shot forrid to'ard the ground, head lust, tic Ketcneci tne i b'ar full tilt betwixt th? flunks with bis head, an' the b'ar was li'isted over on his snoot on the ground quicker'n & flash o' lightniu'. He fell like a tr?e, an' w'ile he was thinkin' up what had struck him, Pete was on his feet ag'in. T'other b'ar now rushed forridj to take a hand in, Pete stooped down( an' grabbed the big b'ar by one hindl leg, an' swingin' him round his head a couple o' times, jist swep' him ag'in; t'other b'ar's head an' knocked that' b'ar offc-n his pins, an' landed him r- - ?1:_ _ more n JJU ieet away, ug 111 a wig www, breakiu' his neck like a pipe stem. The concuasiun was a leetle to heavy fer tlie big b'ar, too, an1 ez Pete laid him back on the ground he give a gasp or two an' quit livia'. Pete killed them twn h'AP sn nuiok an' clean, not spillin' auy blood nor leavin' any smell o' burnt powder, th't I didn't sheddcr much oyer it, but it made me breathe hard. "But you orter heerd Joe Barne9 kill his b'ar that night! It didn't seem to me as if I'd ever be able to get the blood scrubbed outen the room here Joe's the savacest an' unfeelinest feller that I ever heard kill a b'ar in my life. This here night he was gore from head to foot. A b'nr had come outen the woods inter a lumber camp whar Joe * was workin', an' war foolish enough to slouch along ez impident ez a lightnin' rod peddler, not more'n three hundred yards from whar Joe was. When a b'ar gits ez nigh ez thet to Joe, Joe says, that b'ar's lamp o' life is jist ea good ez run out of oil." "Joe see this sassy b'ar slonchin' by, an' grabbin' a butcher knife he started arter it to l'arn it some manners. He kitched up with the b'ar an' pitched inter it. The fust slash he made with the knife Joe slit a hole in the b'ar's throat, an' the blood spurted out like water outen a rain spout. In less than a second Joe looked ez if he'd ben doused inter hia ol' woman's madder kittle from head to toe. To cap it all, the b'ar give a lurch an' sent Joe's knife flyin' clean outen reach. Then Joe had to pitch in with hisfista. 1 Every time he'd clip the b'ar one on the snoot the blood'd fly like chuck'in a stone in a mud puddle. Every time the b'ar'd give Joe a clip the blood'd fly outen him just ez bad, so that be- . twixt the spoutin' blood from the hole in the b'ar's throat an' the flyin' olood , from the b'ar's nose an' from Joe's nose it looked ez if tney'd do siompm ound 'fore long knee deep in gore, mless one or t'other on 'cm either . ; jive up the ghost or took to his leels." "Joe said they'd a ben doin' of it, inyhow, if it hadn't a ben that where they fit a tree had blown down, leavin' a hole four foot deep whar its roots bad ben. Arter they had fit for 10 or 15 minutes, an' the ba'r wero ez good ez when he started, while Joe wa? weakening,' Joe happened to diskirer that the blood that they was shedm', bad run inter thuc hole in the groand an' filled it half full. That was a lucky hitch fer Joe, fer when he see " that orful doo! o' blood an idee hit him. V:, "He was weakenin1 fast, an' in five minutes more he'd be a gonner if hia idee didn't work. So he rasseled the b'ar over to'ards the hole, an' callin* up all his stren'th, toppled brutn over head first inter the pool. Then he grabbed the b'ar by his hind legs an' held his head under fer five minates, an' arownea iob 01 cuhb jn um unu blood! Whew! Ez Joe Barnes was killin' that b'ar I dumb up on th& table yunden> fearih' that I mowt be swep' away by that stream of gorel It was orful. "Then Josh Mullen he had a nar' 'scape from bein' chawed up by four I'jy, b'ars, an1 all that saved him was his dog Tiger. Tiger diskivred the b'ars first, an' fer all that Josh could do he jumped in an' tackled one an' shet off mrinrl if i'milH bftv linn. While * .va ----- - Tiger was makin' inince meat o' hit b'ar one o' t'other uns run a'gin Josh, tbrowed him, and was chawin' away at his arm when Tiger pitched in an' tackled the b'ar. Then another b'ai jined in the muss, an' Josh, layin' on his back, clutched that b'ar so that hi? eyes bulged out on his chccks. The fourth b'ar couldn't hold hisself back any longer, an' took a hand in the quarrel. Pete said tbat, layin' thar an' lookin' up, all he could see was b'ar a pranciD' over him in the air, an' Tiger a tearin' of 'em till meat was - - -- - :? nyia' auout as 11 a sasaigo uia^uiuc run by hoss power was working ainongft 'em. "While Josh and Tiijer was havin' that terrible circus with the b'ars I went out on the stoop yender, an' when I coma back I left the door open. Josh an' Tiger was still teiriu' away at them b'ars the orfulest kind. ' Ez Joe was tellin' how Tiger was jist killin' the last one, what should walk in at the door I had left open but a sure-enough b'ar. Tiger, tin b'ar-tearin' dog smelt him fust, an' jumpin' up went kersmash through that winder yender. Josh Mullin follwed him, takin' sash an' all. Joe Barnes fell over two cheers gittin' to *1? -1 ? ' ^ nn iKa I lie Ciuur UU uut Ui lb, all ncub wuu road yellin' like a painter. SiAinsley follered him, an' Pete Fletcher tore op stairs an' hid under a bed. "Wull, now, I wastol'ab'e su'prised, 'cause when that b'ar came in the room I says to myself, 'Now, thin,' says I, | 'I've heerd heaps o' b'ar killed, an' now I'll see one done up, sure,' says I. t oo ? rlool rliiun'intflH. An* 0U X TT ao t* gvvu Vftwu* V..W.. ^ -- w""7 went into him headfirst. . ' takin' holt o' the b'ar, 'which was a tame yearlin' I had borried from Jim Plunket, I led him back to his coop. '\Since that night,'' concluded the landlord, his gray eyes twinkling, "I hain't heerd a b'ar slaughtered anywhnr ir. Rriiin Holler "?ed mott. in Pittsburg (Pa.) Dispatch. i.